Perfect Steak Doneness: Mastering Medium Rare Steak

Are you ready to up your steak-cooking game? Discover the secrets behind cooking the perfect medium rare steak with this comprehensive and drool-worthy guide to mastering medium rare perfection.

Understanding the spectrum of steak doneness

Before delving into the specifics of medium-rare perfection, let's survey the landscape of steak doneness. From rare to well-done steak, each level offers a unique sensory experience:

• Rare: This steak boasts a seared crust with a cool, deep red interior, offering an exceptionally tender and juicy bite. Appreciated by those who savor a nearly raw red center.
• Medium Rare: Widely regarded as the zenith of steak doneness, medium rare strikes a delicate balance, featuring a seared exterior and an exceptionally juicy, yet tender, warm, rosy-pink center.
• Medium: Taking a step further, medium steaks showcase a well-seared exterior, a warmer, dark pink center, and a firmer texture with a slight reduction in juiciness compared to medium rare.
• Medium Well: This level sees a thoroughly seared exterior and a pink center transitioning to a light brown shade. While some moisture is retained, it leans towards a more cooked and less juicy state.
• Well Done: Fully cooked with a deeply seared exterior and a uniform brown color, this appeals to those favoring the taste and texture of fully-cooked meat.

Cooking the perfect medium rare steak

Mastering the art of cooking steak is a culinary journey that goes beyond the mere act of determining when to stop cooking. It involves a meticulous selection of the best cut, an understanding of the science behind achieving the ideal sear, and a tailored approach for steaks of different thicknesses and shapes.

How to choose the best cut of steak

• Marbling: When looking at a selection of steaks at the grocery store or butcher shop, look for steaks that have the most even, spider web-like marbling throughout. Avoid cuts that lack marbling, appearing uniformly red with thick veins of fat - they will just not have the same flavor and juiciness.
• Uniform shape: If you have two steaks with the same amount of marbling, pick the one that is first, thicker, and second has a more uniform shape. Thicker steaks provide better results because they are less prone to overcooking. Steaks with a long narrow tip will inevitably cook unevenly as the narrow tip will cook faster than the wider side.

Tips for Preparing the steak

• Dry the steak: For the best steak, dab the raw steak with a paper towel and place it on a wire rack, in the refrigerator for at least an hour. This simple technique creates a dry surface, resulting in a delectable crust. For optimal results, consider keeping the steak in the fridge for about 2 days.
• Allow the steak to come to room temperature: When you're ready to cook, allow the steak to come to room temperature by placing it on the counter for at least an hour. By doing so, you ensure that the steak cooks evenly, as the lower temperature prevents any parts from being undercooked and the steak also develops a delicious crust faster. Trimming down the cooking time not only prevents the formation of the notorious gray band but also ensures that a more extensive portion of your steak remains succulent, juicy, and utterly mouthwatering.
• Season based on cooking method: Remember to season your steak before cooking it only if searing the steak at initially at high heat e.g., grilling or using a blazing hot cast-iron skillet. For all other methods e.g., cold sear, reverse sear, and sous vide it is best to season the steak after it rests.

Steak temperature chart

The best way to ensure that your steak is cooked to your preferred level of doneness is to stop cooking when an an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the steak registers:

• 115°-120°F for rare
• 120°-125°F for medium rare
• 130°-135°F for medium
• 140°-145°F for medium well and
• 150°-155°F for well done.

Tip: The steak continues to cook during the resting period due to carryover cooking and radiant heat. As a result the internal temperature goes up another 5° after you remove the steak from the heat source. Take steps to serve your steak immediately after resting.

Cooking techniques

Mastering the art of cooking steak involves choosing the right technique to achieve the perfect balance of flavors and textures. Below are various methods, each offering a distinct approach to cooking that can elevate your steak to mouthwatering perfection:

• Grilling: Cook your steak over an open flame, infusing smoky flavors while achieving a well-charred exterior with a juicy medium-rare center. This classic method is a favorite for its simplicity and the unique taste imparted by the grill.
• High Heat Searing: Rapidly cook the steak at high temperatures, typically using a cast-iron skillet. This technique creates a flavorful crust, and when done right, ensures the interior reaches the desired target temperature for your preferred doneness.
• Reverse Searing: Opt for a two-step process by slow-cooking the steak in an oven, followed by a high-heat sear. This method is favored for its ability to deliver a perfectly cooked interior with an impressive crust, offering the best of both worlds.
• Sous Vide: Vacuum-seal the steak and cook it in a water bath at a precise, low temperature. Finish with a quick sear for optimal tenderness and flavor. Sous vide is a modern technique that provides precise control over the cooking process, ensuring consistent results.
• Cold Searing: A unique method involving cooking the steak in a non-stick pan. This method gives you plenty of time to control to the cooking process, making it an excellent choice for achieving the perfect medium-rare interior with a beautifully browned crust.

Tips for Different Thicknesses & Shapes

Thin Steaks (1" or less): Due to their thickness, these steaks cook rapidly, and a brief sear over high heat is sufficient to achieve medium rare perfection. For thin steaks, sear the steak over high heat using our cast iron skillet method. Do not use the cold sear method because it is very likely that the inside of the steak will reach the perfect doneness temperature before the outside has a chance to sear and develop a crust.

Standard Thickness Steaks (More than 1"): All cooking methods work for steaks that are 1" or more.

Thick Steaks (More than 1.75"): While all steak cooking methods work with thick steaks, they are especially suited for reverse-sear method and sous-vide cooking.

So what's the best method to cook steak?

All the methods described above produce delicious results, however some of the high temperature methods like grilling and high heat searing can lead to overcooking. Blasting heat from all sides also creates a grey band of meat around the edges of the steak, resulting in a smaller percentage of juicy, succulent steak.

Our personal preference is cold searing because it easily and consistently delivers a beautifully browned crust with a perfectly cooked medium rare interior, every time. Since you gradually increase the temperature, the steak cooks steadily making it easier to identify the precise moment that the steak reached the perfect steak temperature.

How to cook a perfect medium rare steak

In this tutorial we demonstrate how to cook a perfect medium rare 1 ½" ribeye steak using the cold sear method:

Step 1: Prepare the steak

• Choose a well-marbled steak such as ribeye or New York strip. Pat it dry with some paper towels. Place it in the fridge for at least an hour to dry or up to 2 days. Once ready to cook, place the steak on a counter for at least an hour to bring the steak down to room temperature.

Step 2: Begin cooking the steak

• Place the dry steak on a cold non-stick skillet on a stovetop and turn the heat up to high. Cook for 2 minutes then flip the steak. Repeat so that each side is cooked for 4 minutes each. Using tongs, flip the steak on its side and cook each side for about 1 minute each. Use a rolling motion to make sure all sides of the steak are cooked. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the steak for 1 minute on each side.

Step 3: Cook to medium rare, rest and serve

• Check the temperature of the steak by inserting a digital thermometer into the center of the steak from the side. If the steak temperature is below 125°F continue cooking each side for about 1 minute each. If the temperature is at around 125°F, remove the steak from the heat source. Place it on a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil. Rest for 5 minutes. Slice and sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve immediately.

Ensuring Medium Rare Perfection

The difference between a sublime medium-rare steak and an overcooked disappointment often boils down to a few degrees. Below are some tips for pinpointing the precise moment to stop cooking the steak.

Use an instant read thermometer

A high-quality meat thermometer provides real-time feedback on the internal temperature of the meat. As a result, determining the degree of perfect doneness becomes less of an artful gamble and more of a scientific certainty.

To check, insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the steak, from the side, avoiding contact with bone or excessive fat. Aim for an internal temperature within the range of 120°F to 125°F to ensure the ideal balance of sear and succulence for medium rare.

What to do if you do not have a meat thermometer

Here are some options if you do not own a meat thermometer. Please note that using these techniques may require some practice. As a result, it may initially produce inconsistent results.

Touch-test method: According to Food & Wine magazine, you can determine the degree of doneness by touching the meat to see what it feels like relative to parts of your hand.

• Raw: Feels like the fleshy part beneath your thumb.
• Rare: Resembles the texture when you hold your thumb and index finger together.
• Medium Rare: Similar to the texture when you hold your thumb and middle finger together.
• Medium: Feels like the fleshy part of your palm, when connecting your ring finger and thumb together.
• Well Done: Feels like the fleshy part of your palm when your pinky and thumb are joined.

Cake Tester Method: Renowned Chef Angie Mar, owner and executive chef of New York City's Les Trois Chevaux, uses the following technique to determine steak doneness:

• Insert a cake tester at an angle into the center of the steak.
• If the tester is cold, the meat is raw; if warm (near body temperature), it's medium rare; if hot, it's well done.

The importance of resting steak

When you cook a steak, the intense heat causes the juices within the meat to move towards the center. If you were to cut into the steak immediately after cooking, these precious juices would spill out onto the cutting board, resulting in a less succulent and flavorful dining experience.

Resting allows the internal temperature of the steak to stabilize, and the juices redistribute themselves evenly. As a result, when you finally slice into that perfectly cooked medium rare steak, you'll be greeted with a symphony of flavors and a juiciness that's evenly distributed from the first bite to the last.

Tip: Note that you do not need to rest the steak when using the sous vide or the reverse sear method as the steak interior is already cooked.

Food safety tips

• Make sure the steak is fresh.
• Follow proper guidelines for storing and handling raw beef, to mitigate any risks associated with bacteria.
• Understand the safe internal temperature for different steaks, whether it's a medium, medium-rare, or any other level.
• Keep a watchful eye on the cooking process, mindful of the thickness of the steak and the amount of time it spends on the grill or in the pan.
• Remember that the Maillard reaction, while enhancing flavor, is not a substitute for ensuring your steak reaches a safe temperature.
• For the most accurate results, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature.

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